Diplo Learning Corner

Get your brain in motion

Month: May 2012

Tom Fletcher’s “Twiplomacy”

28/05/2012 /

Tom Fletcher is the UK Ambassador in Lebanon and is one of the most active diplomats on social media. He has an original blog, concerning his diplomatic activities. One of his inspiring posts is titled:“Twiplomacy: riding the digital tiger”.

Here is the lead paragraph of the post:
“Diplomacy at its best has always been about both interpreting and shaping the world. Diplomats who only do the former should be in academia. Those who only do the latter should be in politics. Those that want to do both should be on Twitter.”

Read the full article at:
http://ukinlebanon.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=Speech&id=706941682

Getting What You Want In Life according to Benjamin Franklin

24/05/2012 /

Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, but he also was an inventor, a diplomat, a writer and a publisher.

In his writings Benjamin Franklin often mentioned actions and behaviours that could be considered as essential in order to get what people want in life. The list of 14 actions that has been compiled by Business Insider, includes activities that are not necessarily original, but still valid.

1) Less Talk, More Action
2) Don’t Procrastinate
3) Be Prepared
4) Don’t Fight Change
5) Get Moving
6) Avoid Busywork
7) Give Yourself Permission to Make Mistakes
8) Act Quickly on Opportunities
9) Continue to Grow
10) Keep Going
11) Know Yourself
12) Don’t Self-Sabotage
13) Don’t Give Up
14) Wise Up

To learn more about each one of them, read the full post in Business Insider

Death by Powerpoint

21/05/2012 /

What are the most common mistakes in Powerpoint presentations? With his humor Don McMillan shows in his effective 10 minutes video “Life after death by Powerpoint” what should be avoided.

Isaac Asimov and the passion for learning

17/05/2012 /

Isaac Asimov is probably one of the most famous scientists and science fiction writers in the world. Having written or edited more than 500 books, he was one of the most prolific writers of all time.

In this Interview of 1988 by Bill Moyers, Asimov talks also about the power of curiosity-driven self-directed learning, the need to implement creativity in education and the passion for learning. Read the full article on brainpickings.

Eight ways to open a speech

14/05/2012 /

www.diplomacy.eduMr.MediaTraining (The blog of Brad Phillips) has published an interesting series of posts on “Eight ways to open a speech”. Here is the list:

One: The Startling Statistic
Two: The Anecdote
Three: Ask a Rhetorical Question
Four: Ask a “Show of Hands” Question
Five: Speak With Your Audience
Six: Build Off The Conference Theme
Seven: Mention Something In The News
Eight: Use Humor

If you want to know more and read the full article with many examples consult the series of posts on mrmediatraining blog

Foreign Ministry inaugurates new digital blog

10/05/2012 /

The Italian Newsagency AGI has just published the following article on the ISDI corner Blog:

“(VELINO) Roma, 10 mag. – As of today the Foreign Ministry has a new learning and media interactive online tool. The blog is called the “Isdi learning corner – get your brain in motion”, and has been created by the ministry’s Diplomatic Institute (Isdi). This initiative has been implemented to provide a series of information and directives about the resources of interest available on-line that will contribute to the professional and personal growth of the ministry’s diplomats and administrative employees. The objective is also to share the contents with other foreign institutes and diplomatic academies. The website is in fact in English. The ISDI “learning corner” is divided into various categories (books, announcements, creativity, leadership, etc…). It does, however have innovative characteristics for an “institutional” blog and users will be allowed to post comments on-line concerning the contents and suggest subjects to be discussed or interesting ideas. Furthermore, the website is open and can be visited and used by everyone, so much so that there are no restrictions as far as joining it is concerned. The blog is part of a series of initiatives that the Isdi is implementing to better exploit new technology and particular the social media, which are increasingly becoming the most popular sources of information and training. vel .”

Diplomatic Reporting at the age of Wikileaks

10/05/2012 /

Amb. Roberto Toscano, former Italian Ambassador in New Delhi and Teheran, and Lecturer at the Italian Diplomatic Institute, has been interviewed on some aspects of Diplomatic Reporting.

First Question is: “What can we learn in terms of diplomatic reporting from Wikileaks documents?”

Second Question is: New Technologies should be used to report more or to report in a different way?

Third Question is: “What diplomats should keep in mind when writing a report?”

Incompetence

07/05/2012 /

More on Diplocalendar 2012 that explores in both a serious and lighthearted way, some elements of interpersonal relationships and management that can help in daily activities.
The subject for the month of May is Incompetence.
“To err is human and we all make mistakes. When someone makes nothing but mistakes, perhaps that person is simply not suited to the job…”

Brain Rules – 12 principles for Surviving and Thriving

03/05/2012 /

John Medina, molecular biologist, is the author of a “MUST HAVE” book titled “Brain Rules. 12 principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School“.

Here are the 12 Principles:

1. Exercise: it boosts brain power
2. Survival: the human brain evolved too
3. Wiring: every brain is wired differently
4. Attention: we don’t pay attention to boring things
5. Short-term memory: Repeat to remember
6. Long-term memory: Remember to repeat
7. Sleep: sleep well, think well
8. Stress: stressed brains don’t learn the same way
9. Sensory integration: stimulate more of the senses
10. Vision: vision trumps all other senses
11. Gender: male and female brains are different
12. Exploration: we are powerful and natural explorers

Archives

Archives

© 2024 Diplo Learning Corner

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑